Two and a half centuries after the Boston Tea Party, legal cannabis operators say it might be time for a California Weed Party. But rather than dump their agricultural product into the Pacific Ocean, shop owners and others are floating the idea of withholding their state tax payments. This year, that could add up to $1.3 billion. The goal is to express frustration with the state of the industry in California, where legal cannabis merchants struggle to compete with illicit operators who have a huge price advantage specifically because they don’t follow the rules. This dynamic has been true for five years since state voters chose to regulate and tax cannabis. And legal operators say they need it to change. “This is the response you get when you feel like you’re being taxed and you don’t have representation,” said Jerred Kiloh, who owns a licensed cannabis store in Los Angeles and serves as president of the United Cannabis Business Association trade group.
Brooke Staggs, The Mercury News, 12/03/2021 19:00:00